From time to time I happen to be invited to talk/present/lecture at various seminars and conferences. Not that I’m too smart or anything, but there’s simply not so many people and companies that are genuinely paying attention or investing into modern HR practice and CSR.

These invitations include guest lecturers at Universities, student seminars, and once I was even trying to explain CSR to a bunch of not-so-keen-to-learn SME people.

This time, though, I was invited to (together with a colleague of mine) think about a 90 minutes workshop for 40 high-school teachers from 20 European countries (well, in the end there were 20 from 10 countries, but anyways…). Now that’s a challenge – how and what do you teach people that make their living by teaching? Sure, we’re in the same field of work – education – but we doubted that our approaches and way of thinking are anywhere similar. Nevertheless, we wanted to give our best to make this time useful for them, so we decided to try to challenge their views and give them some space to think and talk about the future of education in high schools.

Name of the workshop was “Creativity and Innovation” and we started it with a 20 minutes presentation about the world enormous growth in last 200 years, how everything changed (ways we communicate, cars we drive, shops being online today etc) except how classrooms look like (they look almost exactly the same in last 100 years, if not longer). We also added a few slides about modern technology (Kindle, audio books, social media etc), then about the switch between Generations Y and C (Gen C – born after 1990 – connected, communicating, content-centric, computerized, community-oriented, always clicking), and finally we gave them a food for thought before splitting into working groups – a paradigm shift:

–1990 – we are using knowledge
–2000 – we are involved in learning
–2010 – we are creating the knowledge together.

This provocation kinda worked and this cool group was eager to discuss openly situation in their countries (Georgia, Turkey, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Austria, Israel, Macedonia, Serbia…) and give ideas and good case practices to be worked on towards creating a better school in the future. After some 45 minutes (how convenient) of rotations on these topics, the results are 3 flipcharts with a lot of cool stuff on them. And this is how, based on these teachers, the schools should look like in the future:

Internal CSR, or being responsible to your own employees is equally important as being responsible externally and communicating it.
Depending on your business, that can mean anything from allowing them to have unions, have fair compensation and benefit systems, growth opportunity, security, but also quite often their own safety.

However, it’s just not good when you overdo it. I bumped into this example at sustainabilityforum.com and found it very disturbing.
I mean, keeping your employees safe is one thing, but having a policy not allowing them to help someone not to be beaten up brutally is something else…

Check it out below. Conclusion is after the video.

The Potential Brutality of CSR

Written By Chris Milton
Published On February 12, 2010

There’s a reason I’ve not put any picture with this post: because there’s a video at the bottom.

I think you should watch this video. It’s just over seven minutes long.

It’s of a news item from CNN in the USA last night.

It shows CCTV footage of a girl getting beaten up and having her head kicked in at a bus station in Seattle, Washington.

Then there’s the three (four? five??) security guards who watch this happen. Clearly within arm’s reach.

This is terrible, says the commentator. Surely as decent human beings, maybe even fathers, they should intervene and stop this brutality?

The attacker even returns for afters and is unhindered.

Why didn’t they intervene? Because there is a policy, apparently, that security guards do not intervene in violent confrontations. Difficult to swallow that one.

So on comes a guest, a Sergent from the local police force, who steps through this policy and explains why it’s there and that, once the fight had finished, over 60 officers attended the scene.

Then at the very end the presenter thanks the Sergent for his time and for explaining it to them.

So that’s OK then.

Now, why am I posting this on a CSR blog?

Simple. The reason these guys didn’t intervene is because they had a policy to follow. Tick boxes, insurance (no doubt) and all of that.

And this has subverted their normal human behaviour.

CSR and sustainability is all about reinventing business: it’s not a standard to acheive, it’s a model to follow on a path of continual improvement.

The tick-boxers and standard acheivers in the CSR world are little better than these security guards: watching disaster happen infront of them “satisfied” that they are following their professional protocols.

No one, not even a member of the public, intervenes. But it’s the security guards who are best placed to do so.

We all want to be on the side of the defenseless, the impoverished, the disadvantaged and the downtrodden. However, we — as people — have to act for that to happen, not just implement a policy and think that’s the best we can do.

Needless to say, those of a sensitive nature may prefer not to watch the video, and please be sensible with minors. The video can also be watched here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/11/seattle.beating/

Please watch it. Now.

Conclusion:
Personally and as an HR professional, I blame this not only on the company policy, but also on the corporate culture that they obviously have. I mean, this culture has to be very passive-defensive and very strong to change (in my opinion) basic human behavior to react in such circumstances. Or all of these 3 guys are simply bad people…
I hope that the kid is fine…

Lately I had many conversations and debates with colleagues from my company regarding the social media in general, and especially their use at work. By colleagues I mean not only HR people but also people from Risk mgmt, corporate banking etc.
Yeah, kinda forgot to mention – for those that don’t know me that good – am working for a large CEE Bank, both on national (training and development in Serbia) and international level (various programs).

Now, for a GenY representative close to GenX by age, working in a Banking Group, no matter how modern it is, is already a huge challenge. Banks are meant to be safe and secure, so there are so many procedures and rules that simply piss me off sometimes.
I mean, I do understand why there is a need for rules in a Bank, of course, but it looks like that people sometimes invent them just to be able to both defend themselves for being inefficient and to be able to make more steps in the process and make it pretty much ineffective. Not to mention that quite often security means locking computers but not educating people to delete important data from shared folders etc…
In conversations I mentioned earlier, I got feedback that all social media networks have to be forbiden on all computers during working hours, because they are such a distraction. Others were amazed that I constantly have TweetDeck started with twitter, facebook and linkedin feeds moving on the screen all the time. They told me that when I get older I won’t be able to have such concentration.

And these guys are probably right. Social media are a huge distraction. And it’s definitely not easy to follow feeds from 3 different services with who knows how many different topics, while at the same time being focused on the 3 full days offline meeting with 10-20 people in the same room.

It is not easy for them. I understand and accept.

However, for myself, this is not just an ability to do 2 things at the same time. For me social media is the way of living, in a way. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin are tools, not just platforms to play Farmville or Treasure hunt and other games, or to put your half-naked photos of last nights party or even to fulfil your voyeristic needs…
And no, I’m not a freak. I just use all of these networks for every day business… On that particular meeting, I was following a hashtag of people tweeting from some conference…
Of course, I do understand that not everyone is this deep into social media and ethics at the same time, so I do have realistic expectations, but I still think that forbidding social media at work is a bad idea. People should be educated how to use it properly and you can easily have all your employees as strong advocates of your brand online.

(Not to be understood wrongly – many older employees easily hop on this high-tech-social-media train, however I’ve put emphasis on GenY-ers as they are all into it)

Now, allow me to try to give you an overview of how social media can be used, in HR in particular.

Recruitment
Most obvious and the most used scenario is recruitment – almost all recruiters are nowadays using linkedin and facebook to both search for candidates, as well as to do a background check on them.
However, most of them are not doing that properly. God knows how many times have I been contacted for jobs I simply don’t fit into (not all people in banks are financial analysts ).
Also, recruiters should set all prejudices aside before screening candidates, because candidate’s political views or crazy party photos are not something that really affects business directly (unless you are a human rights organization and his profile picture is with KKK hat .

Free tip: instead of being so narrow, try to dig a bit deeper. Point is – don’t search for negative content (because you will find it for sure), but on the contrary – check if his online behavior fits into your corporate culture, check if he is active in groups that promote the same values like your company. Check his interests too, and compare them to those he wrote in the CV – see which ones he expresses the most, and chances are that you are very close to his social profile.

Retention
Even if most of the social media buzz in HR world is about recruitment, it doesn’t end there. Far from that, as a matter of fact…

You noticed that these youngsters that you are hiring lately are not playing the same game as you did back in the days, right? They seem to arrogant, often ignorant, no respect for formal authorities? Yup, I know, not easy to handle…
But you know what? in most cases, it is not their fault. You are the one that threw them on the road that doesn’t fit their tires. Don’t get it? Did you try driving a Smart car offroad? You just don’t do that…

Free tip: prepare a fitting working place for them. Every generation needs different environment to feel comfortable, so they do too. Their environment is high-tech, with flexible working hours and connectivity everywhere. For you a Blackberry or Iphone is something that by hierarchy only top managers get, while for them it’s just one of the basic, default tools. Also, they erased the dividing line between private and business life and are using their private networks in everyday business all the time (example: hey, do you know anything about this training company? -umm, I think that this company used them earlier this year, lemme check! (he msgs his friend in this company and minutes later info is there)).

If you now think that your company is “not that old-fashioned”, because you have modern structure, training programs, advertising etc. please check out the latest shift:

What do you think now? Do your employees feel “fit” in the working environment you are offering? Are they satisfied enough not to consider all the headhunters calling all the time?

Think again.

Now stop thinking and act.

…to be continued…

Marc Coleman & Pan-European HR Network are doing a pretty good work lately in connecting the top HR people in Europe and tackling most important issues in HR today.
This time they are trying to tackle Generation Y and its impact to HR in companies and if you ask me – this is a burning issue!

I’m working in a company that is considered to be advancing HR and Communication in Serbia, a company that was brave enough to be honest to itself and admit that organizational culture changes are needed and now pioneers the unique way of changing the culture etc.
But still, lately I was thinking a lot about and discussing GenY with many people and I have to admit that my company is far from being “GenY friendly”. On the opposite, there are so many obstacles (caused by old way of thinking and in the form of procedures and other limiting documents) in every day work that it kills motivation to wake up in the morning and come work at all!

Of course, I’m not saying that I’m giving up – by filling in this survey that good folks at Pan-European HR Network have prepared for us, I got a pretty good idea of what’s missing and am looking forward to the results of this survey.
Am actually being intellectually challenged right now, as it is not easy to think of a way to make such big changes in a 1000 people company to become result oriented instead of process oriented…

Below you can find a letter from Marc Coleman, which explains basically why they are doing this research and how, as well as the link to the survey. Please fill it and do share your thoughts in the comments…

Dear HR Professional,

The world has changed, the way we work has changed, the technology has changed, the crisis has changed and even the change has changed!

To stay in the race, you must understand not only the behaviour of your customers but to help your directors and managers to leverage the talent and motivation levels within your organisation.

Generation Y and the web 2.0 world is key to thriving in this recession and to driving the upturn. Generation Y does not only refer to an age group (born between 1978 & 1994). It has become a set of behaviours attributed to any generation operating in the modern socially networked, emotionally and (often virtually) connected working space. Impatient, individualistic, connected, versatile, curious and inventive…in a word a demanding culture. And despite all the doom and gloom, these new behaviours are persisting.

As a large proportion of the world’s demographic are in the Generation Y age group, in addition to the spreading “Y/2.0 culture”, to stay in the race it is vital to tap into the diversity, creativity and innovation that this group represents and organizations must upgrade the way they think…fast.

Please take a minute to complete all questions as your opinion matters to us. We utilize and share your feedback at live international events, business reports and press releases.

Click on the link at the bottom of this email to take this survey.

Thank you!

Pan-European HR Network

Click on the following link to take the survey: Click Here
Or copy and paste the following link in your browser to take the survey:
http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?CCFA8499CD889097CA88

edit – new link: http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?BC98F4E8B9F9E9EB

I have been thinking about writing about Generation Y for almost 2 months already, and still am thinking quite a lot about the topic, especially when it comes to analyzing GenY in Serbia… I promise I will write my comments about it very soon, and ’til then enjoy this fantastic text that Sandra shared with me today.

If you are not familiar with what the term Generation Y stands for, do click here first.

The text below is originally found at http://management.silicon.com/itdirector/0,39024855,39405160,00.htm

Five ways Gen Y will change the way you work
Don Tapscott on Millennials: ‘Show us the wikis, not the money’

By Nick Heath

Published: Thursday 26 March 2009

The Millennials are coming – armed with Facebook accounts and netbooks, the latest generation of young workers are entering the workplace ready to raze traditional touchstones of business to the ground.

Web 2.0 evangelist Don Tapscott – author of tech titles including Wikinomics and The Digital Economy – is forecasting a “big conflict” in the office, sparked by the generation of 11- to 30-year-olds who are determined to reshape the workplace in their own image.

Talking to silicon.com about his latest book Grown Up Digital, Tapscott laid out five “generational firewalls” that bosses need to tear down if they want to attract the brightest and best of Generation Y.

“We do the opposite of what we should be doing, which is learning from this culture,” he told silicon.com.

“The whole paradigm that you train, you supervise, you compensate and you retain – all of those are wrong.”

Here’s Tapscott’s top five ways to embrace the Millennials’ working culture.

Don’t supervise

Understand that in their age group there is a new culture of work: the social network is the new operating system for business.

The way that they work is by using networks like Facebook and Twitter to create a new nervous system.

If you have a great collaborative environment, that is going to be way more attractive to them than paying them lots of money and tightly controlling the way they work.

I’m talking about using wikis, blogs, social networks and collaborative filtering in the workplace.

For example, US electronics retailer Best Buy has a social network for employees called Blue Shirt Nation, with 70,000 people at the electronic water cooler every day who are coming up with great ideas that are being implemented.

You always see the same argument: ‘Why should we embrace this new thing? The old ways have always worked.’

It results in better performance and better innovation in business – that is why we should adopt these practices, because it’s good for us.

That also means giving employees freedom of work – having the ability to work at home and to set their own hours – and allowing employees to have custom job descriptions – as they do at Deloitte.

Dead as a Dodo – the tech that Gen-Y will sweep away

Email

“Young people see email as good for sending a thank you letter to an aunt but not much else.”

Websites

“The internet is increasingly about building community, not providing content – it offers a way for people to self-organise to create communities. That is why Facebook beat Match.com, why bloggers are beating CNN.com and why Wikipedia is beating Encyclopaedia Britannica.”

Datacentres

“They are going to move into the cloud, in much the same way that electricity companies moved away from the practice of having their own power plants onsite during the early days of electricity.”

Fixed line phones

“They will be replaced by mobile devices.”

The personal computer

“They will be replaced by small always-connected devices with a high degree of mobility. The personal computer was always an oxymoron for me, it’s like the idea of personal sex. The purpose of computing is to communicate.”

Traditional data processing

“This is headed for the ashcan of history. Everything in a report will have an XML tag called eXtensible Business Reporting Language.” [This provides an identifying tag for each piece of information which is computer readable so the machine can understand what data it is handling].

Don’t train

Rather than spending so much on training people, why not invest in increasing the learning and collaborative components at work?

It’s called knowledge work, where work and learning is the same activity. Why shouldn’t work be fun?

The training department at my company nGenera is that everybody must blog on a regular basis.

Why isn’t every job like that? Where working and learning are the same thing, you increase the learning component for day-to-day activities, so you get both better learning and better work.

Don’t retain people

There are all kinds of new ways to harness human capital without it being inside your boundaries at all times.

The talent does not have to be inside: at Procter and Gamble half of its innovation team are outside the company.

There is a case in Grown Up Digital of Denis Hancock, who is running the Wikinomics blog – I will have hired him five times by the time he is 32.

I am creating an alumni network I can draw on, it’s so good to have Denis but I don’t try and retain him.

I communicate with Denis on a social network and occasionally he shows up at the office. I’ll take him anyway I can get him.

It’s about how you architect a corporation and about rethinking how you orchestrate capability.

Don’t hide behind security fears

At their fingertips employees have these powerful tools of social networks and what do we do with them? We ban them, we ban Facebook.

There’s no security issue that you can’t handle – for Pete’s sake, the CIA have a social networking wiki, called Intellipedia, the way you get better security is by opening up and sharing information.

I heard the same arguments 15 years ago from people who did not want the internet in their company because they were afraid there would be security violations and people would be wasting time.

These are called implementation challenges, they are not reasons to not do it but things that you need to take into account.

Don’t recruit

Instead, initiate relationships with your potential employees at an early age using social networks.

A corollary of that is don’t spend money on advertising for recruitment – it’s a waste of time, better to get a big pile of money and burn it.

Click and fill in if you have a couple of minutes…
Simply click on words you find appropriate (word is selected when field becomes white)…

http://kevan.org/johari?name=Nikola+Jovanovic

Thanks!